SilverSmith

Walter has football running through his veins. What he has achieved is remarkable and I have huge respect for him' - Sir Alex Ferguson 'A timely and sympathetic portrait of the veteran boss' - BBC Sportsound Walter Smith is one of the most successful and respected managers in the history of Scottish football. Best known for steering Rangers to their nine-in-a-row success in the SPL during the 1990s, he enjoyed spells at Everton and Manchester United before proving his powers as a resurrection man by reviving the Scotland national team’s fortunes in the aftermath of the calamitous Berti Vogts reign. In 2007 he returned to Ibrox, where he steered his beloved club to a fresh crop of silverware before bowing out at the top in May 2011. SilverSmith is the definitive biography of Walter Smith’s fascinating life and career. This new edition has been fully revised and updated and covers all the scandals, scraps and stramashes which erupted as Smith and Celtic’s Neil Lennon became embroiled in a dramatic tussle for the 2010-11 SPL crown, which stretched all the way to the campaign’s final day.

Auteur

Neil Drysdale has been involved in journalism since the mid-1980s and has been praised for the quality of his writing across a wide range of sports. He was an award-winning writer with the Scotland on Sunday for 15 years, but now works freelance, mostly for the Herald and the Sunday Times. He is the author of several sports books including Dad's Army, the autobiography of Alan Rough and a History of Borders rugby. He is married and lives in Aberdeen.

Résumé
Walter Smith was one of the most respected managers in British football. This insightful biography casts a reflective and analytical eye over his life and career, examining this shrewd professional through the many highs and lows that he has experienced as a player and manager. He enjoyed an illustrious career in management at Rangers, joining the Souness revolution in 1987, winning nine successive league titles, a domestic treble in the 1992-93 season and winning both the Scottish Cup and League Cup three times. In 1998, Smith accepted a position in England with Everton, where he was the manager until 2002, before being reunited with Ferguson at Old Trafford in 2004. In December of that year, Smith was appointed as Scotland manager and his effort subsequently earned him the title of 'Scot of the Year' at the prestigious Glenfiddich 'Spirit of Scotland' awards in 2006. Midway through the qualifying rounds for Euro 2008, however, and with the Scots leading their group, he controversially accepted an offer to return to Ibrox in January 2007. Upon returning to Glasgow, Smith led Rangers to the UEFA Cup Final and triumph in the Scottish Cup in 2008, a domestic League and Cup double in 2009 and another double - this time in the domestic League and League Cup - in 2010. He retired from management in 2011 and died in October 2021.